Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention

The Biblical Account and The Babylonian Myth of Creation

Presented to Dr Ferguson

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for

Introduction to The Old Testament 1

By Oscar Pulido

i
 The Biblical Account and The Babylonian Myth of Creation

In 1872 AD - during archaeological excavations at the Library of Ashurbanipal1 - ancient

tablets containing the Babylonian Epic of Creation were unearthed. These became known as the

Enuma Elish after the first words to be read on the first tablet: "When on high."2 These are dated

to anywhere from 2000 BC to 1105 BC3. At another much disputed time, though most scholastic

consensus would say it is undisputedly more recent than its Babylonian counterpart, the Biblical

Creation story found in Genesis 1 and 2 was written4. The Biblical Creation account's protagonist

is Yahweh, the one and only God who, through his word alone, dominates chaos and creates the

universe. His Babylonian counterpart is Marduk, one of a pantheon of gods, who must struggle

fiercely to overcome his enemies. A thorough comparison of both accounts - considering their

similarities and differences - results in the resounding conclusion that Yahweh is undisputedly

superior to Marduk in all aspects. Namely: [1] dominion, [2] creative power, and last but not

least, [3] moral goodness and character.

Enuma Elish opens with the two begetters of the primeval universe, Apsu and Mummu-

Tiamat5 - whose names are associated with 'The Deep' and 'Chaos,' respectively6 - creating a

1 Yingling, E. O. "Give Me Back My Idol: Investigating the Dating of Enuma Elish." Studia
Antiqua 9, no. 1 (2011)
2 Foster, B. R. Before the Muses, 3rd edition, 439–445)
3 Yingling. "Give Me Back My Idol”
4 Roberts, John R. When was Genesis Written? SIL International

5 Heidel, A. The Babylonian Genesis (1942)

6 Eldridge, Stephen. “Mesopotamian mythology” Encyclopaedia Britannica

ii
 plethora of other gods as their children. These gods in their revelry and excitement end up

producing so much commotion and noise that Apsu and Tiamat are deprived of their much-

needed rest and sleep. A conspiracy follows to destroy the lower gods, who hear about it and

have Apsu killed. At this point, the god Marduk takes center stage and is charged with the

mission of dealing with Tiamat, who is now set on a xed course for complete and utter revenge.

After much bargaining with the gods for status and power and some hesitation when confronting

Tiamat, Marduk is nally able to conquer his enemy and subdue her army of chaos demons. He

proceeds to use her body to create the earth and skies. To continue ingratiating himself with the

gods on his side, Marduk devises a plan that will allow them to rest forever.

“Blood I(Marduk) will mass and cause bones to be.

I will establish a savage, ‘man’ shall be his name.
Verily, savage-man I will create.
He shall be charged with the service of the gods
That they might be at ease!7

He creates something new whose primary purpose is to be the slave force of the gods:

The Human Race. Marduk is thus successful in subduing chaos, establishing order, and creating

a species of slaves.

The Hebrew account of creation begins with Elohim (later on in the Scriptures introduced

as Yahweh) creating the heavens and the earth, and hovering over the deep waters8. He speaks,

and an orderly universe comes into existence: light, night, day, land, stars, living vegetation, and

creatures - all these supplanting the deep through His spoken word - without a contest! (Gen. 1)

As Yahweh's nal act of creation, He makes the human race in His own image and plants them in

a paradise garden, where He blesses and engages with them on a relational level. (Gen. 2, 3)

7 Heidel. The Babylonian Genesis

8 All Biblical citations, unless stated otherwise, are taken from the NLT

iii
fi
fi
fi
 Considering the similarities of both creation stories and that the Babylonian epic was

written rst, one of the most likely conclusions is that the author of the Biblical account adopted

some of its terminology and imagery.9 Some of these similarities are pretty obvious; the deep

waters precede ordered creation, the lights in the sky are given some charge to govern certain

aspects of the passing of time, and the reptilian images of serpents and dragons of Enuma Elish

are used later on in the Biblical account of 'the fall' among others in other parts of scripture. It is

of no threat to the Biblical account to acknowledge that there are in uences from the past and

that some terminology may have been adopted - the Bible is, after all, God-breathed and written

by human beings. (2 Tim. 3:16)

Although there are many similarities between both accounts where terminology and

imagery are concerned, it is in the plot itself where the differences take the lead. The Biblical

account here distances itself by leagues from its Babylonian counterpart.

Both openings to creation picture a replacing or taming of 'the deep' and 'chaos' before

life is created. However, the process of doing this puts Marduk in an ashen light compared to

Yahweh. Marduk does not have sovereign dominion to start with. He is a created god who,

thanks to his bravery and acquired abilities, has to do battle with the goddess of chaos, Tiamat.

Marduk even hesitates, for an instant losing his nerve as he readies himself to ght her. “As he

looks on, his course becomes upset, his will is distracted and his doings are confused.10 Only

after defeating her is Marduk able to bring about an ordered creation.

On the other hand, Yahweh only has but to speak, and with his order, creation comes into

being; the deep is tamed, and “the waters of the heavens were separated from those of the earth”

9 Sayce, A. H. “The Babylonian and Biblical Accounts of Creation” The American Journal of
Theology. Oxford University (1905)
10 Sayce. “The Babylonian and Biblical Accounts of Creation”

iv
fi
fl
fi
 (Gen. 1:6-8). ’The deep' has no hint of being able to oppose Yahweh; there are no gods in

existence to oppose Him (or spur Him on) in accomplishing His purposes. Even the sun and

moon - who in the Babylonian story are already gods themselves, yet assigned to speci c duties -

are, in turn, created and commanded by Yahweh without a hint of having a deity or god status of

their own (Gen. 1:14-19). In the Biblical account, Yahweh is clearly seen as having complete

dominion, from nish to end.

In addition, Yahweh is shown as a meticulous creator, vastly superior to Marduk in

creative power. He creates in speci cally different stages; for instance, the land mammals are

created separately from the sh; even the vegetation is speci cally mentioned. With Marduk, the

creation of the earth, the skies, and human beings are all just an afterthought. He must somehow

dispose of Tiamat's corpse, therefore he creates the land and skies; he needs to gain more favor

and in uence with the gods, so he creates the humans to be their slaves. In contrast, Yahweh

seems to create out of His own desire to create. He even stops to have a look at what He creates

at different stages and deems them to be 'good.' (Gen. 1:4,10,12,21,25,31)

The most remarkable attribute that separates the aNE Babylonian myth from the Biblical

Account is each respective creator's motivation or moral intention. From early on in Enuma

Elish, Marduk is seen striving to gain more power, status, and in uence from the other gods in

exchange for confronting Tiamat. He is clearly shown as having the desire for supremacy and the

need for respect and loyalty from his fellow gods. He even seems to absorb the position and

power of the gods that created him. Once he disposes of Tiamat, he creates the human race in

order to make life easier for his fellow gods and give them the rest that - ironically - was desired

by Tiamat and Apsu in the rst place. 11

11 Heidel. The Babylonian Genesis

v
fl
fi
fi
fi
fi
fi
fl
fi
 In the Biblical account, Yahweh is not once portrayed as power-hungry, needy, or sel sh.

He did not create to ingratiate Himself with any other god. He is not asking for higher status,

position, or rank. The humans Adam and Eve have no power or status to give to their creator.

What He does seem to be like is overly generous. Instead of making slaves, He says, "Let us

make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26). Yahweh gives them dominion and authority over creation:

"They will reign over the sh in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals

on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground” (Gen. 1:28). Not only does He

give them governing power, but He also gives them His blessing, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill

the earth…" (Gen. 1:28). Yahweh is unquestionably portrayed as having far greater generosity

and moral character than Marduk in the Babylonian epic.

Why does all this matter? Both of these texts were written thousands of years ago. Any

individual in those days living in the Fertile Crescent12 would most likely be acquainted in some

way with the Enuma Elish myth, especially during the time when Babylon was at its peak as an

empire. When they would hear or read the Hebrew account of creation, the imagery of chaos,

deep waters among others would already be familiar. However, in the Hebrew account, the

listener or reader would realize - or at least have to wrestle with the fact - that Yahweh was not

only superior to the patron god of the mighty Babylonian empire, Marduk, in dominion, power,

and creative prowess, but that Yahweh was in nitely and intrinsically more sel ess, generous,

and desiring to bless His creation. When they prayed to Yahweh, would He have to strap Himself

in gear and go to a battle that could have an uncertain ending? Absolutely not! All He needs to do

to carry out His will is to speak, and it is done.

12 The land between Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Ancient Mesopotamia

vi
fi
fi
fl
fi
 Bibliography

Eldridge, Stephen. “Mesopotamian mythology” Encyclopaedia Britannica

Foster, B. R. Before the Muses, 3rd edition, 439–445)

Heidel, A. The Babylonian Genesis (1942)

Roberts, John R. When was Genesis Written? SIL International

Sayce, A. H. “The Babylonian and Biblical Accounts of Creation” The American Journal of Theology.
Oxford University (1905)

Yingling, E. O. "Give Me Back My Idol: Investigating the Dating of Enuma Elish." Studia Antiqua 9, no.
1 (2011).

vii